(June 8, 2012) -- Ten years ago, both
Bob and Mike Bryan were happily single guys enjoying their first ever French Open title. Now happily married in 2013 and with multiple Grand Slam championships on their stellar resume, the most successful doubles team in recent history raised the trophy in Paris yet again.
But not without a stern fight from an all French team playing for national honor.
France's
Michael Llodra and
Nicolas Mahut stood in the way of the Bryans' and their quest for a 14th Major title. While the Bryans were heavy favorites going into the match, that meant little as both teams found themselves in a highly competitive and tight battle that went all the way down to the wire.
The Bryans didn't drop a set en route to the finals and after taking the first set 6-4 it looked like that they might just complete a perfect tournament. But rallied by each other and the partisan French crowd on hand, Llodra and Mahut took the second set and sent things into a decider.
With Llodra and Mahut trying to become the first French team to win the men's doubles title since
Henri Leconte and
Yannick Noah did so in 1983, the pair pushed the Bryans to the brink. But the Bryans responded by holding serve and thus forcing a final set tiebreak.
Llodra and Mahut jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the breaker. But steely nerves and hands from the Bryans helped them surge ahead and win the next five points as they served out the 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(4) win.
Despite a valiant effort, the loss was too much for an inconsolable Mahut afterwards who was seeking his first ever Grand Slam title of any kind.
For the Bryans, it is their 14th career Major title. Having won the Australian Open earlier in the year, the Bryans just need to win Wimbledon and the U.S. Open to complete a career first calendar year Grand Slam.